


Steel Skies

by ScoreCounter



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Established Relationship, Inspired by Music, M/M, Stargazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-21
Updated: 2016-03-21
Packaged: 2018-05-27 18:41:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,322
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6295453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScoreCounter/pseuds/ScoreCounter
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It's been almost a year now, you know."<br/>"Really? It feels like longer..."<br/>"...You're not growing tired of me already, are you?"<br/>"The only times that felt like they lasted forever were the ones I didn't have with you."<br/>Yosuke and Souji spend some time at the riverbank, as a new summer draws to an end.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Steel Skies

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by Stål Himmel by Alan Fernie. Played it recently and... well, fell in love with it. It remimds me of Aurora Borealis, so forgive the lousy geography, I just thought these two looking at that sort of thing would be cute. The bit inspired by the music starts a bit down.

It was almost a year now. Almost an entire year had passed since they finally finished their journey - or part of it, whatever it was. Both of them felt like there was something both there and not there, but that is not the matter of the now. The fact is, where it was almost-but-not-quite a year since then, it had been exactly a year since...then. Since... they'd first kissed. It was cruel, cruel fate, yes, that both of them - not just Yosuke, mind - had managed to finally bring it out into the open. Yanno... that they were...  
For each other, anyway. Souji always had this idea that gender didn't and wouldn't matter to him, but actually being confronted by it... That was another question entirely. He still wasn't quite used to this relationship they had, moreso for different reasons now, reasons that moreso suggested he'd never quite fully understand how things came to be this way. He remembers telling his parents - heck, he remembers _that_ entire secrion of the relationship - Yosuke sitting carefully down at the table, afraid he was going to break something, and Souji knowing, knowing that he would have to make a choice...

Within hours, Yosuke and Seta-san - Souji's dad, that is, were already activley dicussing the inner complexities of Go... somehow. Seta cracked a joke about how even the biggest super computers were decades away from competency yet. Souji's mum, on the other hand, sat and watched, a calm, neutral look on her face, observing, Souji at her side. He remembers her words... "I may not be exactly.... happy with what your relationship is... but, I'll never disagree with who it's with. You have a good young man there, Souji... and even though it means I'll never have grandkids," something that Souji knew how much it meant for her, "I'll always love you. And I'll try to love him, too." Souji cracked a joke about her always wanting another son, one more wild than Souji. "I should have been careful what I wished for." They sat there, Souji's heart warming at Yosuke's animatedness, and his mom smiled in fond remembrance of the days when she was discovering what the word 'relationship' meant.

Yosuke's parents had already had a lot to deal with in regards to their son - especially with the break he had last August, an occasion Souji dropped everything to rush over and help, if but for a weekend. It came as no suprise to them that they were together. And, well, there was the murders, the heckling over the whole Junes thing, not to mention a whole host of other incidents. Their som coming out of the closet was more of a brief respite more than anything else. It may have been slightly wrong, sure, to them, anyway, but seeing them together, Souji clutching onto Yosuke, whispering into his ear -

It was the sort of experience that changed their minds, in more ways than one. They noticed more and more things about their son - prehaps chief among them the fact that whenever Souji was near, even when they were talking online or on the phone, that there was this happy serenity eminating from them - and that was easily worth throwing away that precious little hatred - and they fullly admitted that - of homosexuality. They'd taken dinner together there, too. Yosuke's mother said one thing - only one thing needed be said, really. "Yosuke... I want you to do something for me. You and Seta... when I first thought about it, I was disgusted. Revulsed even... I thought that it would never work, that there would be no real affection there. Go out there, with him, and prove me wrong."

And as for Dojima... well, it would be safe to say he saw it coming. He _was_ a detective, after all, and he was trained to observe these little things. He still got a bit of a guilty kick from tormenting Hanamura, though, however much he'd grown to start liking the kid.

Kanji, (un)suprisingly enough, was Yosuke's confidante with the whole thing. It quickly turned into mutual banter - laughing privatley at their absolute ineptitude when it came to their sexuality. Rise was slightly downtrodden. Momentarily, anyway. Next thing they knew, she was asking them, begging them to make out in front of her.

And then there was today. The stage just after meet the parents. The Parents Meet The Parents stage.  
Souji was freaking out - what if they hated each other?  
Yosuke laughed. "Dude, they're probably going to spend most of the day playing Western Chess or somethin'."  
"...You have a point."  
  
And here they were, at the river bank, gazing up at the sky. Yosuke yawned, streching his back out, feeling it crack satisfyingly.  
Souji smiled, mirroring the action before slinging his arm around his boyfriend. "Hey, Yosuke...?"  
Yosuke glanced over, a look in his eye almost saying he already knew what was going to be asked. "Partner?"  
"You're... still alright with this? You know... going with me?"  
Yosuke laid his hand over Souji's, gently pressing it into the slightly soft soil. "No matter where you go, Seta." He felt a shiver run through the warm body beside him, almost feeling it travel through the ground itself, just at the use of that name...  
"I... don't want you to hate me if things go wrong. You know... that I might... lose you."  
"If anyone were to fail in this relationship, It'd be me, partner. How many times do I have to say it?" As much of a self depricatory laugh went through the statement, there was a resounding sadness there too.

As if they were both scared of messing it up. Messing this up.

"It's been almost a year now, you know." Souji turned to face Yosuke, his eyes betraying a certain sadness.  
"Really? It feels like longer..." Yosuke breathed out, wistfully.  
"...You're not growing tired of me already, are you?" Souji was half joking, but swallowed his words when Yosuke pushed him back to the ground and kissed him, firmly, his eyelids dancing closed. Souji tried to return it as best he could, matching that smooth, low tempo that they had fallen into. Best a slow accel than a sudden race, to put it musically. He grabbed Yosuke's arm, bringing it over to the other side, a silent permission for his boyfriend to straddle him, to just... encompass him. Yosuke willingly obliged, pressing slightly harder, but no faster, still slow, still calm, still gentle. Yosuke gently pulled away, Souji's arms wrapped around his back, chaining him to the ground. Souji's heart quickened ever so slightly as Yosuke leant down near his ear.

"The only moments that felt like they lasted forever were the ones I didn't have with you." Yosuke's voice had dropped down slightly, breathless, joyful and sincere. Souji relaxed entirely, every single muscle resting, at peace... this was more than simply what he wanted. Some part of him wondered why he even tried to date some of the girls - it was nice, at least some of the time, but this...

It was like he was fully absorbed by Yosuke, and vice versa, that they were bound together by some invisible ties of fate that chained them both to this world, to each other, and that there was not one thing about Yosuke he would ever not adore. Those awkward days at the start of this... relationship (because that couldn't be the word for it, it was more than that) were more than sufficiently worth this overwhelming comfort, that presence, and not once had either of them pushed the other for anything, them both striding through at the same pace, wanting the same things at the same time, knowing eachother so intimatley to know there was infinitely more to discover. The gentle bounce of his laugh, the fierce resolve of his eyes, the gentle smile of his face and everything else about him were things that he had only just started to uncover.

"Yosuke... Yosuke Hanamura. I love you. I love you more than I have anything, and more than I ever will."

Yosuke smiled broadly, breathing in sharply - no matter how many times he'd hear those words, they would always have that self-same profound effect on his body, his mind, his soul - if this was what obtaining the truth was like, then sticking with it determinedly, non-waveringly, would be it's own reward. He always wondered why, even though he was attracted to girls/women (delete as neccersary), he could never get a sustained relationship going - even Saki; what was that? Was it really love? Or some trancended form of affection? Because it wasn't this. And he also wondered why after meeting Souji that women slowly started to having lesser and lesser affect on him, that he just demanded all his attention, almost like...

Almost like they were opposite forces colliding, and fusing, and now could never seperate, an unbreakable bond sealing them together, both seperate, yet both one thing. Souji and Yosuke. Huh. He liked the sound of that. Souji was everything that he had ever wanted - compassion, a strength of soul, bit of a dork - and some things he never thought he wanted - strong arms that protected him, silver eyes that simutaneously conforted and questioned him, a smile that made the tides within him roar, a love that made every single lyric that he had ever sung both make sense and dwindle into insignificance.

"Souji... I... I'll never stop loving you... and I'll never leave your side."

Tears filled both of their eyes, falling to the soil, softening it even more as they clutched onto eachother in a fit of confortable happiness. And the night was not over yet.

Souji felt something cold and wet, much colder than Yosuke's happy tears drop onto his cheek, as something in the atmosphere shifted, somthing inplaceable, as if they were no longer quite in the human relm. Yosuke felt it too, a cold splace on the nape of his neck. They looked up, and saw the sky above them, blank from clouds and brimming with starlight, and yet the raindrops managed to keep falling. They looked carefully, and it almost seemed like each raindrop had a dull coloured shimmer to it, as if enchanted, and the river started to stir.

Yosuke slowly stood up, observing the spectacle, Souji quickly following him and grabbing onto him protectivley. Something serious hung in the air, as the sky changed to the impenetrable darkness of light, raindrops still falling down over the new moon. Something changed within them too - as slowly, part by part, they were filled with an odd sense of dreadless awe. Suddenly, a small tremor passed beneath their feet as the thunder clapped in the distance, and the outpour strengthened, and slowly, the sky gradually gained a streak of pale green light. It twirled and danced in the distance above the river, gentle sweeping movements gently punctuating the thunder. With gentle care, Souji let go of Yosuke, wondering towards it, gingerly, the thunder still rumbling gently in the background, and Yosuke at his side.

The light gently flickered down nearer the waters edge, filling it with a dull bluish glow, and the aurora slowly strengthened, spinning multiple colours, weaving them into the sky, the two boys standing at waters edge. Yosuke grabbed Souji's hand, squeezing it gently as the light grew stronger, along with the rain, soaking them both. Another aurora joined the first, the two twining together, twirling in their symphony, growing stronger and then dying down. A third entered, almost as if guiding the first two, as it may have all along.

Souji turned to face his boyfriend, the colours illuminating both of their faces, the ground still trembling, the rain still falling, the thunder still rumbling, and slowly, he grabbed around Yosuke's waist, pulling them close. The thunder grew stronger, and Yosuke, in awe of both his partner and the spectacle, nodded, slowly, but no less eagerly for doing so.

The two started moving slowly, stepping through the somehow still solid but soft mud, holding eachother close, as two more pale straks of light sweeped in, one blue and one red, stronger than all the others, sweeping close together, sweeping in and around and through the others, as the two boys lost themselves in the bizzare display, both still soaked to the bone but not caring at all, one eye on the lights meant just for them, and another on their partner, meant just for eachother. The thunder continued to grow stonger, and the dance became more active, sweeping around eachother, Yosuke taking special care to not flub this moment up.

Winds picked up, blowing through their legs and the spaces between their arms, their hair getting swept up in it, them both laughing at how bizzarte the situation was, and bringing themselves closer together, into a yet more intimate position - and then they both leant in to kiss again.

The thunder clapped even louder, the rain fell even harder, their souls screamed even higher, their hearts sparking into a frenzy that felt like it would never end, the colours exploded into a brilliant white, surrounded by reds and blues and slivers and they fell that little bit more, just that little bit more in love with eachother, that bond slightly strengthened, their hearts and minds ever so slightly better tuned to eachother in a massive torrent of energy that dissapeared as soon as it came, but the effects lingered on, their lips still pushing against eachother, their tounges still rubbing together, the stars still shining brighter.

The lights faded, slowly, except the fading thunder, and a single white aurora, that continued to spiral in the air, one fringe silver, and the other a golden brown, that continued to shine in their hearts as they kissed eachother, and stroked eachother, held eachother close, and never let the other go.

"Partner... I love you."

 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading this, and... well, I hope I've introduced you to a great piece of music, as well as all the fluff! Please leave a comment if you can, I don't know why, but I've always moreso appreciated one persons opinion laid bare than a number of likes (but that's nice too!)


End file.
